Benjamin Bergen Transitions from President to Board Member of Council of Canadian Innovators After Decade of Transformative Leadership

TORONTO, ON – December 1, 2025 – The Council of Canadian Innovators (CCI) today announced that Benjamin Bergen will be stepping down from his role as president and joining CCI's board of directors. Bergen's transition marks the end of a remarkable decade in which he built CCI from the ground up into Canada's leading national business council representing the innovation economy. 

Since being hired as employee No. 1 when CCI was founded, Bergen has been instrumental in shaping the organization's vision and growth. Under his leadership, CCI has expanded from 16 companies to now represent more than 175 Canadian-headquartered technology companies. Benjamin’s voice has been vital in establishing CCI as the voice of the country's most ambitious technology firms and scale-ups.

“Over the past 10 years CCI has become the leading national voice in forward-looking policy for the 21st century economy. Benjamin’s dedication, strategic vision, and tireless advocacy have been fundamental to everything CCI has achieved,” said CCI Chair Jim Balsillie. “While we'll miss his day-to-day leadership, we're fortunate that he'll continue contributing to our mission as a board member." 

Throughout his tenure, Bergen championed policies to support Canadian scale-ups, advocated for domestic innovation, and worked to ensure that Canadian technology companies could compete on the global stage. 

Under his leadership, CCI worked closely with the federal government to develop the Global Talent Stream among other initiatives. CCI was the leading voice pushing back at the capital gains tax hike in 2025, and more recently CCI’s advocacy has been critical in reforms to the Scientific Research and Experimental Development tax credit.

Benjamin’s work has helped shape critical conversations around national prosperity, intellectual property, digital trade, and innovation investment.

While stepping away from his operational leadership role, Bergen will remain connected to CCI's mission and continue to support the organization's advocacy for Canadian innovators.

"Being the very first employee at CCI has been a privilege, and I’ve been proud to work in close collaboration with so many incredible CEOs," said Benjamin Bergen, outgoing President of the Council of Canadian Innovators. "At the start it was just a small group of 16 CEOs who wanted to band together to speak with one voice and champion better economic strategy. Today, CCI represents more than 175 leading companies and speaks with authority on the issues that matter most to Canada's innovation economy. I'm incredibly proud of what we've built together, and I look forward to supporting CCI's continued growth as a board member. The mission remains as critical as ever, and I'm confident CCI's best days are still ahead."

CCI will announce details about its leadership transition in the coming weeks.

À propos du Conseil des innovateurs canadiens

The Council of Canadian Innovators is a national business council representing more than 175 of Canada's fastest-growing companies. CCI's mission is to help Canadian technology companies scale globally and create the jobs of the future. For more information, visit www.innovators.ca.

Contact presse

James McLeod
Directeur de la communication

jmcleod@canadianinnovators.org